UFC booking Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Kelvin Gastelum has Twitter going crazy

The UFC officially booked Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Kelvin Gastelum — and MMA Twitter reacted just about as expected.

Gastelum's return to 170 pounds won't be an easy one by any means as per UFC president Dana White, he will face the undefeated Rakhmonov at the promotion's Fight Night event taking place Sept. 16 in Las Vegas.

That card — taking place during Mexican Independence Day — is notably headlined by a women's flyweight title rematch between current champion Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko.

Both OFFICIAL for September 16th on Mexican Independence Day! 🇲🇽

📺 LIVE on ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/B7d7lBVgRM

— UFC (@ufc) June 29, 2023

Gastelum last competed at welterweight in 2016 as his regular struggles to make the 170-pound limit saw him move up to middleweight.

The Mexican-American had a promising start to life at 185 pounds and he looked a potential future champion. However, he has gone 2-6 ever since suffering defeat to current champion Israel Adesanya in their interim title fight back in April 2019.

That said, he recently returned to the win column after outpointing Chris Curtis at UFC 287 in April in what was a massive sigh of relief.

However, he will be facing a killer in the streaking Rakhmonov next.

The Kazakh is 17-0 overall and 5-0 in the UFC with finishes in all his fights. His most recent win was an impressive submission victory over welterweight veteran Geoff Neal at UFC 285.

It's also very odd booking as for many, Rakhmonov was very much in the title picture. Instead, he's facing an inconsistent middleweight returning to the welterweight division.

And while Gastelum is extremely durable, many are expecting him to not only lose, but get beaten badly.

Here are some of the best reactions to the fight news:

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